The independent Bazooka! Fest returns to Brooklyn on 22–23 August, with Destroyer's Dan Bejar confirmed as headliner alongside previously announced acts including Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields, Joanna Sternberg, Times New Viking and Sad13. The festival, launched in 2025 by former Matador A&R director Jake Whitener, aims to pair influential underground artists with the newer acts they inspired, echoing curated events like All Tomorrow's Parties or Athens Pop Fest.

The 2026 edition will take place across the Meadows and the Wood Shop venues, with a lineup spanning dozens of acts including Kiwi Jr., Cloud Nothings, Colleen Green and Great Lakes, among many others. Whitener said he wanted to recreate the intimate, cross-generational feel of smaller-venue festivals that bring together iconic performers and the emerging bands they have shaped, describing it as a celebration of underground rock and pop's ongoing evolution.